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Keiji Maeda
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Phone scammers impersonating officers
By Tanya Fong, TODAY | Posted: 25 July 2011 0727 hrs
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SINGAPORE: People are still being tricked by phone scam syndicates despite repeated police warnings and media publicity.
A police spokesman revealed that four victims aged between 25 and 47 years were cheated of about S$10,000 in this month alone.
The 25-year-old victim, who lives in Jurong, had received a call on his mobile phone on July 11 from a woman claiming to be an officer from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).
She told him she would be able to help him receive a tax cut of S$850 off his income tax if he followed her instructions. As she knew his name and identity card number, he thought it was a genuine call from the IRAS and followed her instructions.
He was told to go to a nearby automated teller machine (ATM) and key in a six-digit personal identification number (PIN).
When he said he had done it, she said she would call him again but never did. He later realised that the PIN he had keyed in had effected a transfer of more than S$4,100 to another account.
In another case, a 35-year-old man received a similar call from a woman claiming to be from the Credit Bureau.
She asked if he was aware that he would be receiving S$450 from them as part of the Government's Workfare scheme. The victim told her he was unaware of it as he had just returned from an overseas working trip.
He was then instructed to go to the nearest ATM and key in some numbers which, in fact, transferred more than S$2,100 to the conman's account.
Last October, the police received reports on cases where the victims said they had answered the calls as the phone numbers displayed seemed similar to that of the Police and the Supreme Court.
This is different from a typical case, where the victim normally receives a blocked call on their mobile phones from someone claiming to be an employee of a Government agency.
The culprit would then inform victims that they were entitled to receive money from the Government through various schemes such as the Baby Bonus or an income tax rebate.
Last Friday, the police posted a warning on its Facebook page, cautioning against scams of impersonation of Government officials as well as a video on how to avoid being cheated.
The spokesman reiterated that the authorities would not ask anyone to transfer funds through phone calls and would instead inform them through official letters for any welfare scheme or tax-related matters. The police have advised the public to ignore such phone calls.
Members of the public should also not transfer any money via remittance agencies, banks or any other means. And they should call the police immediately at 999 to report the case.
- TODAY/fa
